JD/MES Agreement with the Institute of Environmental Studies

The JD/Masters in Environmental Studies (MES) is a joint program sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) at the University of Pennsylvania.

Students will have the opportunity to earn both degrees in three years (more on the sequencing of these years follows, below).

Students in this program will be prepared to assume positions of leadership in environmental law and policy making in both the public and private sector.

Application Process

Students will apply independently to each degree through each school’s specified admission process. The Law School and the School of Arts & Sciences will make independent judgments about each candidate.

While the Law School and SAS will make independent admissions decisions, each application will invite the student to indicate that they have applied, or been admitted, to the other program.

Students need only take the LSAT (rather than the GRE).

Students can use, if they wish, the Law letters of recommendation for SAS consideration.

The Law School will cooperate with SAS to get these materials to the College of Liberal & Professional Studies (LPS) which is the division administering this program, in as timely a fashion as possible.

Both programs will use materials submitted to the Law program for evaluation purposes.

Applicants will have two options as to applying for the Dual degree program:

They may make contemporaneous applications to both programs prior to being accepted at either, or

They may apply to the Masters program in the first semester of the Law program.

Degree Completion Requirements

In order for a student to receive both degrees, he or she must complete the independent degree requirements of each program.

For Law

For the JD class of 2013 and beyond students must complete a minimum of 86 credits, 52 hours of which must be advanced credit completed in the second and third years of Law study. Students in the dual program may apply twelve credits (four courses)[1] from the MES program toward that requirement, reducing their credit requirement to 40 credits. These four courses are the total number of non-Law courses that a Law student can take in other departments of the University. Law students enrolled in the dual program are not eligible to participate in Study Abroad Programs.

Students must also satisfy the pro bono requirement of the Public Service Program and fulfill their senior writing and professional responsibility requirements (more on these requirements can be found in the Law Student Guide to Policy and Procedures).

For the Masters of Environmental Studies program

MES students must complete a minimum of 12 course units (cu’s). Students in the dual program may apply 3 cu’s (three courses) from the JD program toward that requirement, reducing their credit requirement to 9 cu’s. These three courses must be pre-approved in the concentration requirement by the MES Faculty Curriculum Committee.

Program Sequencing

The dual degree may be earned in one of the following two sequences:

For students accepted into both programs simultaneously:

Summer Pre-Law Student takes 2 MES courses

Fall Year 1 Student takes all required Law courses

Spring Year 1 Student takes all required Law courses and substitutes ENVS 601: Proseminar for the general (non-regulatory) elective.

Currently enrolled JD/MES students with questions about financial aid: Anthony Henry, Director of Financial Aid, henry2@law.upenn.edu

Questions about the MES program: Yvette Bordeaux, Director of Professional Masters Programs, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, bordeaux@sas.upenn.edu.

Each year, this document will be reviewed and re-approved by representatives of both schools. Currently, that review will be handled by:

For the Law School: Jo-Ann Verrier, Vice Dean for Administrative Services

For SAS: Nora Lewis, Vice Dean, Professional and Continuing Education

Issues Particular to the Program

Students in the dual degree program may have particular career interests and goals. They are encouraged to meet individually with a counselor in the Career Planning & Placement Office at the Law School and with Yvette Bordeaux, Director of Professional Masters Programs, Department of Earth and Environmental Science

[1] A note on classes and credits: the Law School operates, in order to comply with accreditation standards, on a credit hour basis while courses in the MES program are typically worth 1.0 credit units (some ½ semester courses may be worth 0.5 credit units). In converting between the two programs, a Law course will count as 1.0 course units (or cu) in the MES program, and a course in MES will be worth three credit hours at the Law School.